What ideas do you have for cutting wedding costs?

Answer 1

I think the elope idea got beat half to death. I agree with them. Big weddings are fun, but at the end of the night, you step back and think “How much did I just spend?”

Anyway, to cut costs..

1. The hardest, but will save you the most money is cut the guest list. This will cause fights amongst the family and/or hurt feelings. Some cuts are easy like your mother’s friend that she hasn’t seen in 20 years (and you can’t remember meeting at all). Other cuts like a brother’s girlfriend or cousins are tough calls to make.

2. Stay away from hotels for receptions. Hotels tend to be overpriced. Check out local restaurants and even local bars in your area. I had my reception at a corner bar in a suburb of Milwaukee. It was much cheaper (about 1/3 the price) than one of the chain hotels by the airport. If you live in a city, perhaps look into renting a park or a pavillion and have the reception catered for much less. The last I checked, a weekend rental for a park pavillion in Milwaukee ran about $200 for 6 hours on a weekend.

3. Eliminate the free booze. Whether the reception is at a hotel, a restaurant, or a pub, they rake you over the coals on alcohol. I got married 5 years ago and I was getting charged almost $150 per half barrel for Miller or Bud products. Beer seemed to be about the same price no matter where the reception was held. Perhaps guest should buy their own

4. As much as I hate to say it, skip the professional photographer. If there is a community college or a tech school nearby that offers photography classes, put out an ad at the school and hire one of the students. Many do great work…some just plain suck. It’ll be a coin toss. Either talk to the photography teacher, the career center, or post the job on a board on campus. Give them a $100 or so, plus film and food. Make sure that you own the negatives and all copyright afterward if you go this route (just type out a small contract outlineing the expectations like how many rolls of film the must shoot, that they will be shooting like the ceremony, reception, portraits, outdoor park photos, etc, who will get the film processed, how much the job pays, and who owns the negatives and copyrights afterward).

5. Church or JOP? By the time I paid for the church, tipped the priest and assistants, paid the organist, and paid for a cantor, getting married in a church began to push $1K. Getting married by a judge will cost about $100 and to rent a wedding chapel or a room somewhere will only be a few hundred more. The costs will vary…some churches don’t charge for the building if you are a member, some will. Some churches, the priest will do the singing, other places they won’t…just something to look into and consider.

6. The wedding dress: A wedding dress is a very personal thing, but you are going to wear it once and probably never wear it again. Buy a dress off of eBay or from a second hand shop. Check out local tailors for dresses they made that they are looking to get rid of for cheap. If you don’t care what your dress looks like, this may be the way to go.

7. Print your own invites or design them and have them printed. This can be a huge cost savings. You can easily print your own response cards and reception cards yourself rather than pay for all matching cards. If you are good with computers, you can design your own invites and print them at home on regular paper or have them printed at Kinko’s or another similar place on a thicker type of paper. A few hours can save you $100s.

8. Skip the centerpieces on the table or go with something simple. A cheap centerpiece is to get some ivy bowls from Michael's, get some floating candles, and some ribbon or fake pearls. Glue the ribbon or pearl string to the outside of the ivy bowl, fill with water, throw in a candle, and light. They look nice and they cost under $2 a piece (if you have more money, you can add glass beads to the bowl, add floral rings to the outside, etc...). If you are really strapped for cash, just get rid of the centerpieces all together. Put a few votive candles and holders on the table with some confetti and streamers and be done with it.

9. Maybe I am way off base, but no one I know of keeps the wedding favors anyway. Most people eat the jordan almonds, but almost everything else I have seen given away gets tossed anyway. Just skip the favors.

Good luck to you!!

Answer 2

Eloping can cut the costs down to a minimum. If this option is not for you, considering having a small wedding; invite just the closest family and friends. Also, the less formal the wedding is, the smaller the cost; a beach wedding in a sundress and a picnic-style "reception" is less expensive than a fancy formal wedding and a five-course reception with an open bar. You have to find your own balance between doing something you are happy with and something you can afford. We had a small informal wedding and a backyard BBQ in place of a reception; costs were minimal, and satisfaction was great - we would have done it all over again.

Answer 3

Instead of having a regular dinner reception, have a dessert reception or an appetizer reception. Food costs will be MUCH less, and you can have fun and decorative desserts or appetizers that I'm sure your guests will love! Getting married on a Friday instead of a Saturday is a great way to save on the cost of your reception site (they usually charge less for Fridays). I made my own Unity Candle and programs, which saved some money. Also, I was married two days before Christmas, and a bonus to that (which we hadn't even thought of) was that the church and reception hall were ALL decked out with poinsettias and Christmas trees, so we spent no money at all on floral arrangements and decorations. Get your bouquets from the floral section of a grocery store instead of from an expensive florist. The flowers were just as pretty, but MUCH cheaper.

Best wishes! I hope you have a beautiful wedding!

Answer 4

Have a small or medium-sized wedding instead of a big wedding. It costs alot to feed each person at the reception so you may want to consider inviting only your closest and dearest friends and family instead of everyone in town, like some people do. Maybe you can print your wedding invitations at home instead of going to a print shop. Or if you want to cut wedding costs almost completely how about eloping?

Answer 5

Do I have ideas about cutting wedding costs? :0) I got married two years ago and did all of these suggestions. First, the ring I went to a wholesaler I got a 10K ring for 3K. Second, If you have a Michaels or JoAnn Fabrics in your neighborhood cut coupons and go there every week.Bring a couple of friends if you need to! Know something that you need to buy for instance, the wedding invitations in a package...40% off, the wedding arch in which you stand under...40% off, the pedals on the table, 40% off. If you need fabfic, use that for the overlays on the tables. I puchased the table clothes from Ebay and then got fabric 40% off from JoAnn Fabrics to over lay over the top. Sprinkled with fake pedals from Michael's for 40% off. The cake...don't get me started! LOL Call your local bakery and aks if they make round cakes...they do. So then ask if they come in three sizes...they decorate them ANY WAY you would like. I called Safeway. So then you purchase the cake stands...you guess it, Michael's 40% off. My dress...I searched for the dress at David's bridal online....$800.00. I found the EXACT same one, worn once, $135.00!!! That includes the shipping. You can purchase the dress and cut it three sizes with the seamstress, although I got the correct size and did not need to. The gifts for the guests...$1.00 frames at the dollar store. The food, Costco! They have so many ready made trays your guests will never know. Oh! I forgot to mention I got the three tiered cake from Safeway, however the cake in the back that was served to the many guests was from Costco. It was in the back so who would have EVER known! Also purchaed my flowers from Costco and arranged them myself. You would be amazed at what is on the internet and diagrams. I did it all via the internet. One more thing.... I sold the dress that I wore for $255.00!!! More then I purchaed it for on Ebay! BTW -I sold it that they needed to clean the dress!!! :0) Forgot to mention I also sewed the bridesmaid dresses! I am not a seamstress, but I was determinded to get the correct color!!! SOOO would not recommed that if you are not a seamstress. I did pull off the wedding..isn't that the point!!!???LOL.

Answer 6

I'll certainly be watching this thread with a vested interest, my wedding's coming up pretty soon. A few things my fiance and I have talked about:

-Buffet-style reception.
-think about what your friend's talents are, if they would be something you'd usually have to pay for (i.e, good friend is a great photographer) ask them to do it for your wedding as their wedding present to you.
-Same thing with the ceremony, if you have a preacher friend, have him/her marry you. Ask about their officiant's fee as though you plan to pay it, and oftentimes they'll waive it for friends.
- surf the internet. Chances are you'll find better deals on shoes, jewelry, ringbearer's pillows, etc. Than you would if you got everything from the boutique you buy your dress from. (A quick look at david's bridal's prices vs. ebay or amazon will show you that.)
-Don't be afraid to go bargain hunting just because it's your wedding. A lot of people feel cheap or tacky buying things second hand or last season's style. All anyone is going to want to look at is you and your spouse. If you guys are lookin sharp, they won't care that the ringbearer's suit is a little out of style. And if they do, call it 'retro'
-Try to get rid of things you don't need. A videographer really isn't neccesary. If you really want one, put a video camera in your little brother's hand and tell him to make sure to record everything that looks important. Also, having flowered centerpieces and brand new china at all the guest tables doesn't matter.
-Finally, cash bar. You will prolly cut a quarter of the cost of your reception of by making your guests by their own liquor.

also, try to make up a budget ahead of time, and don't go more than 10% over it.

Answer 7

This is what I did for my wedding the total cost was maybe $500.00
Ceremony/ Reception-done in the same place, we had a small family wedding; it was much cheaper; we actually didn't have to pay for the use of the building it was done in the church my mother in law to be worked at.
Minister-my father in law to be married us
Bridal party-I borrowed sis in law's dress, maid of honor wore one she had from previous wedding, flower girls wore Easter dress (it was crazy but the colors all matched)
Groom's guys- rented tux for hubby and best man, cummerbunds and bow ties for ring bearers.
Flowers- my mom made silk ones
Photos- all the family members took the pictures, it was cool because we got a different variety of points of view
Reception- gift from another sis in law to be; she made a 3 tier cake from scratch, we had just the cake, mints, nuts and punch.
Hair, Nails & Makeup- third sister in law's neighbor was stylist and she did it for free.
Musician- friend of family played music.

This was a very low budget wedding, but it was beautiful, if I had to go back and change anything it would have been that I remembered I had a cream silk suit w/ lace overlay in my closet, that and make sure when my mom said she'd take pictures that she not only make herself a set then give me the negatives.

Answer 8

You have many choices about how to cut costs. You could handle a majority of the marriage on your own, making the cake, having a family member take photos, have it at someones house, possibly with a large backyard to hold everyone comfortably. Get your family involved as much as is comfortable for all. Instead of having a dj or a band make a cd of your favorite songs and have just put the cd player on repeat.

Answer 9

Depends on how much you need to cut. Two cost-saving ideas that will not put more work onto you or your intended:

1) Get married in the early part of the day. Serve brunch instead of dinner.

2) Get married on a Sunday. Wherever you would like to do the deed, it's usually cheaper on a Sunday and your guests won't mind.

Have fun (that's free)!

Answer 10

Other than elope? Cuz that's the cheapest and easiest.

Cut the guest list. Your dad's boss's massage therapist does not need to be there.
Don't do favors. No one keeps those things anyways. A DJ or boombox costs less than live music. Buffet dinners cost less than sit down. Indoor weddings cost less than outdoor suprisingly.
Be careful when people tell you to "just make it yourself!". Often you'll end up spending more in supplies than if you'd just bought it already made. Good luck!